Meekess: I’m NOT a Doormat

Most women think meekness = weakness. In my recent study of Emmet Fox’s book, Sermon on the Mount, there’s a new definition of meekness, or rather, an old one. Depending on which library you go to, Emmet Fox’s “Sermon on the Mount” can be found in the “bible study” section or the “new age” section. His explorations of scripture are pivotal works and can be found in use in groups like AA.

Sometimes we don't know it all. There's nothing wrong with learning new things.

But that’s a topic for another day.

Today, I’m soaking in the concept of ‘meekness’. I am not, by definition, a doormat. Most of my life I’ve been a big girl, and now I’ve got bold blonde hair to boot. Blending in is decidedly NOT my thing. I’m pretty brazen, blunt and a bit “out there” for the world to see. I kind of live my life as if I’m an open book. Not everybody’s cup of tea, but it works for me.

Enter Emmet’s commentary on meekness. He says that the ‘modern’ definition of meekness is not at all what was originally intended in the well-known ‘beatitudes’. So many people see itas something they could never aspire to, and write it off as ‘one more sin’ of which they’ll need to be forgiven.

Fox maintains that in reality, meekness is nothing more or less than the idea Socrates shared: “All that I know is that I know nothing.” It’s the ability to recognize that we are not the be all, the end all, or even a fraction of what we think we are.

It doesn’t mean to be quiet and lowly, as most of us imagine it today. In fact, it sort of means being open to trying new experiences, in a quest to learn more because you recognize the value of learning from everything around you.

It never made sense to me how someone “meek” could inherit the earth. Meekness is seen as weakness in our culture – at least by the popular definition of meekness.

This new examination gave me courage to recognize the meekness in myself. I’ve always been a bit on the loud side, and frankly, I don’t want to change that part of my persona. I also consider myself to be one of those “absorbent sponges” when it comes to learning. I’m always open to learn something new, try a new experience, or see things from a new perspective. It is my belief that the opennes I have is one of the keys to my ability to brainstorm so effectively. I can make connections where others can see none. Helping people see new perspectives and ideas really fires me up – because I can see THEIR brains working overtime, too, as they make new realizations in their own world.

Let’s give meekness a new definition – or rather, let’s give meekness the OLD definition again. Open yourself to new experiences, new possibilities. As Jeffrey Gitomer would say, resign your position as the ruler of the universe. Recognize that for all that you know, it is only a fraction of the vastness of knowledge that the world contains – and even THAT is potentially a fraction of all knowledge.

And when you look at it that way, meekness doesn’t seem so unreasonable after all.